In a June 18 email to high school students and parents, High School Principal Chris Levy announced that he had appointed math teacher Anike Oliver and Director of Student Community Programming Bobby Asher to the roles of interim eleventh- and twelfth-grade deans, respectively.
Oliver and Asher replaced former eleventh- and twelfth-grade dean Darius Pardner, who left GDS at the end of the 2025-26 school year for a job as Associate Director of College Counseling at Ransom Everglades School in Miami, Florida. After last school year’s two-dean structure proved difficult to sustain, this year’s system returns to a grade-by-grade dean structure for the upperclassmen. The restructuring is the system’s second overhaul in two years.
Former High School Principal Yom Fox led the decision to reduce the number of deans to two for the 2025-26 school year. The system required each dean to teach only ninth-grade seminar rather than any core academic classes. The change was intended to make deans more accessible and to allow students to build stronger relationships with their dean over two years.
Not everyone thought the changed structure was sustainable. “With our new leadership, they’ve noticed that a two-dean structure is quite stressful on the deans,” Oliver said in an interview with the Bit. “The students have not been able to get the level of support that they were able to get when there was a four-dean structure.”
Prior to Pardner’s departure, administrators had not slated any changes in the dean structure for this school year. Levy approximated that he found out Pardner was leaving the school in mid-May, which he said was later than would have been ideal.
Pardner did not respond to a request for comment.
Levy said a reason for splitting the role of eleventh- and twelfth-grade dean into two jobs was that juniors and seniors need more individual attention as they begin the college admissions process.
“It’s not just cheerleading,” Asher said about the role of dean. “It’s not just supporting kids to get the best grades they can.”
Senior Avery Cooper said she thought her grade was able to establish a closer relationship with its deans in the four-dean structure than in the two-dean structure. Cooper said that because Pardner had already spent a year as dean for the class of 2026, she thought he had a stronger relationship with that grade than with hers.
“I think it’s a lot better to have one person focused [on one grade],” Cooper said. “And I feel like it was nice freshman year to have that, too.”
Senior Mae Lazerow said she thought Pardner was more attentive to last year’s graduating class than to hers. “That’s understandable; [being senior dean] is a lot more responsibility, and you have a lot more going on being the senior dean,” Lazerow said. Lazerow said she thought the role of senior dean was more time-consuming than the role of junior dean because the senior dean has to help students through the college admissions process and coordinate senior traditions.
Lazerow said she preferred the single-dean structure to the previous system. “We love having Bobby. He’s great; he’s been really helpful for everyone.” Lazerow said Asher’s one-on-one connections with students and his presence in student spaces like the Forum have strengthened his relationship with the grade.
While Asher has served in a decanal role for every grade level over his 35 years at GDS, he said he particularly enjoys the twelfth-grade position because he gets to support students as they take on new routines and responsibilities.
“[Seniors] are getting ready to make probably the biggest decisions of their lives,” Asher said. “They’re going to be moving out of their homes. For most kids, that’s the only place they’ve ever known. So I do have a special place in my heart for students in transition.”
Oliver served as interim ninth-grade dean during the 2022-23 school year because former ninth-grade dean and history teacher Abe Pachikara had left for an administrative job in Atlanta the previous spring. And while Oliver said her first year serving as dean was daunting, she added that she feels much better equipped to work as eleventh-grade dean now that she knows what the position entails.
“Because of my experience, I’ve tweaked my approach,” Oliver said. “My role as a dean is to provide social, emotional and academic support to students. I’m also here to support teachers as well as parents. Leading with that as the premise for my role, I’ve tried to create a space where students feel welcomed.”
Ninth- and tenth-grade dean Steph Cordo said the addition of a third dean has substantially reduced her workload. Because high school programming is now split among three people, Cordo said she has more time to focus on the freshmen and sophomores.
“Last year was just a lot [in] learning about the role and how to balance my time between the two grades equitably,” Cordo said.
Cordo is teaching fewer periods of ninth grade seminar this year than she did last year. Although seminar classes are slated to begin on Sept. 22, Cordo said GDS is still in the process of hiring a second seminar teacher. Automatic Data Processing, which is the school’s platform for job listings, lists the position as “no longer accepting applications.”
Levy told the Bit he hasn’t “really decided just yet” whether Asher and Oliver will continue as deans after the 2026-27 school year.
“I’m absolutely clueless. We’re, what, a week into school?” Asher said about whether he’ll continue in the position. “I don’t have expectations. [But] do I enjoy this role? Couldn’t enjoy a job more.”